For the first time at the Delhi Auto Expo, a special pavilion on garage equipments  was on display, which attracted the attention of enthusiasts and vehicle owners at the Expo to check out the latest service equipments and technologies in the equipment sector.

The garage equipment market is valued at Rs400 crore, and expected to grow at 15 per cent growth year-on-year for the next five years. Leading providers in the garage equipment segment are optimistic of achieving the projected growth, keeping given the surge in demand for sophisticated garage equipments by dealers both in the commercial and passengers segment.

The booming automotive sector in the country is also translating a burgeoning network of service centres for the millions of wheels on the roads. To meet the enormous growth in the automotive sector where several new passenger cars, two-wheelers and commercial vehicles are being launched, the garage industry will also witness an exponential growth in the coming years.

"The garage equipment industry is growing with the rise in automotive industry and with the two wheeler segment boom, its just getting better" says Kalaichelvan, joint managing director, Manatec,  Puducherry- based manufacturer of automotive garage equipment.

The garage equipment segment is well represented at the Auto Expo. Manatec displayed a range of wheel aligners, wheel balancers, auto tyre changers, heavy vehicle tyre changers, two post lifts, collision repair system, paint spray booth etc. Adjacent to Manatec, ATS Elgi had on view a bright display of garage equipment.

During a demonstration session of a new 'two post lift', Elgi displayed crash repair system, lifts, wash systems, tyre inflator, tyre changer, among various tools. Other manufacturers like Newturn Auto Tech Pvt. Ltd and ACE Car Tech Pvt. Ltd also showed their range of equipment from AC servicing equipments to crash body-repairing systems.

Others like Car-o-Liner, Chicago Pneumatics, Precision Testing, also displayed an impressive range of garage products. Avjit Ghosh, vice president (marketing), Star Alliance is optimistic on the growth of the garage equipment market. New Turn Autotech Pvt Ltd, the company he represents produces a wide range of garage equipments ranging from body shop equipments, test lane bench to a range of auto scanners.

ATS Elgi Limited, wholly owned subsidiary of Coimbatore-based Elgi Equipments Limited, had displayed its nitrogen tyre inflator and the a two post lift for passenger cars and vans.

Benefits of inflating tyres with Nitrogen are very well known. Correct inflation is highly significant when considering type life and performance. The nitrogen type inflator from ATS Elgi generates nitrogen at the rate of 3500 litres per hour with the integrated vacuuming system for removing the air out of the tyre before filling with nitrogen, which lasts for over five months. The two-post lift from ATS Elgi come with asymmetrical lifting carriage and support arms for ample door clearance and short support arms with 180 degrees swivel range.

The average spending on economy car maintenance in India is estimated at about 20 per cent of the value of the vehicle per year for the first five years. With the increase in demand and usage of sophisticated equipments this is bound to rise another 5 per cent-6 per cent, which would further drive the growth of the garage equipment market.